Elizabeth Artis
Elizabeth Artis was one of four victims of the 1967 Newark rebellion whose death was not attributed to police or National Guard. In the early morning hours of Sunday, July 16th, the 65-year-old suffered a fatal heart attack in her home at 38 Prince Street. Her Prince Street neighborhood had an extensive police and National Guard presence and was the site of heavy gunfire throughout the rebellion.
The night of Elizabeth Artis’s passing was marked by rampant destruction of Black-owned businesses in the city, as police, troopers, and National Guardsmen sought retribution against Newark’s African American communities.
According to her sister, Elizabeth Artis’s death had “no connection with [the] riots,” and the Essex County Grand Jury therefore found “no cause for indictment.”
References:
Notes from the Newark Legal Services Project
Notes on the death of 65-year-old Elizabeth Artis, who suffered a heart attack on Sunday July 16, 1967, but had “no connection with [the] riots,” according to her sister. — Credit: Junius Williams Collection
